Feminist Christian Philosophy?

The paper argues that in order to develop the autonomy, integrity, and boldness that Plantinga has advised Christian philosophers to develop, we need to listen to the voices of feminist philosophers within and outside of the Christian community.The paper sets out the hermeneutical stance of the Christian philosopher as described by Plantinga and shows how feminist thought contributes to this stance.The paper focuses on how we name and symbolize the sacred, reviews some of the names and symbols used by feminist thought, and makes use of Sara Ruddick's work, Maternal Thinking, to explore some of the implications of the name "Mother.""There are words I cannot choose again," Natural Resources, 13 Adrienne Rich Seven years ago Alvin Plantinga offered some "Advice to Christian Philosophers."He suggested that, within the philosophical community in which we, as Christians, find ourselves, we need to display more autonomy, more integrity, and more boldness.My aim is to offer some further, but related, advice.Christian philosophers would do well to heed the voices of feminist philosophers both within and outside of the Christian community.If our philosophy is an "expression of deep and fundamental perspectives, ways of viewing ourselves and the world and God" (Plantinga, p. 271), then we must constantly examine those perspectives in order better to articulate them and to understand how those perspectives relate to our thought and our action.In this paper, I will set out the hermeneutical structure of the task that Plantinga recommends for Christian philosophers and show how the voices of feminism contribute to this task.While not all Christian philosophers are compelled by this labor of uncovering and critiquing basic presuppositions, I think that more of us should be.As I hope this paper shows, such activity raises important and often difficult questions.To allow these questions to remain undiscussed is to risk our own integrity. I. The Hermeneutical Stance of the Christian PhilosopherPlantinga's advice helps us understand our stance as Christian philosophers in relation to the wider philosophical community.He tells us the story of a